The Los Angeles Lakers have signed guard Jordan Clarkson, the team announced on Monday. They acquired him on draft night by buying the No. 46 pick from the Washington Wizards.
The 6-foot-5 Clarkson has the potential to play both guard positions, and the Lakers used him both on and off the ball at summer league in Las Vegas. In five games there, he averaged 15.8 points and 5.0 rebounds, shooting 42 percent from the 3-point line.
Last year at Missouri, Clarkson averaged 17.5 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game, but made just 28 percent of his 3s. He has great size and athleticism if he's going to be a point guard, but he'll need to prove he can shoot and create consistently at the NBA level. Until then, Clarkson will learn from Steve Nash and Jeremy Lin and try to compete with them for minutes. There probably won't be much playing time available behind Kobe Bryant, Nick Young and Xavier Henry at the shooting guard spot.
Los Angeles has 13 players under contract.
